Tulles tagasi meie seikluste juurde... P2rast teist 88d Dambullas s6itsime me bussiga Polonnaruwasse, mis oli 65km kaugusel. Ma tahtsin natuke bussireisikogemusest kirjutada, sest see on siin t6esti midagi m2rkimisv22rset. Sri Lanka bussid on k6ik vanakooli metallist monstrumid, kaunistatud v2ljaspoolt kirevate v2rvidega, ning seespoolt k6iksugu kulla-karra ning jumaluste piltidega. Viimased kuluvad kindlasti marjaks 2ra, arvestades bussijuhtide hulljulget s6idustiili.
Busse on siin palju ning tundub et nad s6idavad absoluutselt k6ikide punktide vahet. S6iduplaane ei ole, tuleb lihtsalt vajaduse korral bussijaama kohale ilmuda ja saadki sinna kuhu tarvis minna. Kohale j6udmise kiirus on muidugi omaette asi nagu ma varem maininud olen - liiklus on siin hulluksajavalt aeglane. Piletit pole samuti enne s6itu vaja muretseda, kuna siinsetes bussides on konduktorid, kelle ylesandeks on inimesi t2is vahek2igust j2rjepidevalt ennast l2bi pressida, samas piletiraha kogudes. Bussid peatuvad tihti ning reisijad vahelduvad pidevalt. Peaaegu igas peatuses tuleb peale keegi kes midagi myyb, hyydes meloodiliselt v2lja seda mis parasjagu saadaval - olgu selleks puuvili, vesi, samosad v6i muud soolased suupisted, isegi jogurt. Nagu varem mainitud, on bussiuksed s6idu ajal alati lahti. Nyyd olen m6istnud selle t6elist p6hjust - et niigi aeglast reisi mitte veelgi pikemaks venitada, ei vaevu bussijuhid v2iksemates peatustes t2ielikult kinni pidada. Selle asemel aeglustavad nad bussis6itu ning kes iganes tahab peale saada, jookseb bussiga natukene kaasa ja hyppab peale. See on absoluutselt muljetavaldav oskus, kuna enamik teeb seda pl2tudes!
P2rast yht taolist bussis6itu j6udsimegi Polonnaruwasse, kus me kylastasime iidse Polonnaruwa kuningriigi palee varemeid, mis ehitati 8nda ja 14nda sajandi vahel. Kultuurip2randi ala on hiigelsuur, ning enamik ehitistest pandi pysti kuningas Parakramabahu I Suure valitsuse ajal, 12ndal sajandil. Me otsustasime avastada ala tuktukiga ringi s6ites, kuna tee22rne tuktukijuht tegi meile v2ga hea pakkumise otse p2rast seda kui me bussist maha astusime - sellest sai meie esimene tuktuki-s6it, vaatamata sellele, et Sri Lanka on neid paksult t2is. Tuktukid on p6him6tteliselt v2ikesed avatud taksod, v6imsuselt umbes nagu v2ikesed mootorrattad, kuid katusega ning v6imalusega kahte inimest transportida. Kuigi me olime esialgu plaaninud jalgrattad rentida ja ala sedaviisi avastada, tuli v2lja et tuktuk oli hea otsus, kuna vahemaad olid piisavalt pikad ning kuna tuktukiga oli p2ris lahe s6ita!
P2rast yht 88d Polonnaruwas, v6tsime ette oma esimese rongis6idu Sri Lankal et tagasi Colombosse minna, mis on umbes 200km kaugusel. Me l2ksime rongi peale 8.30 hommikul ning j6udsime kohale kell 5 6htul! Rongis6it v6ttis uskumatud 8 ja pool tundi, peaaegu sama kaua kui me Roomast Sri Lankale s6itsime. T6si kyll, tund kadus selle taha, et rongi mootor l2ks poole tee peal katki, ent ylej22nu on lihtsalt aeglase liikumise tulemus. Rongid on siin samuti vanad, ent p2ris mugavad. K6ik aknad on yldjuhul lahti, mis v6imaldab suurep2raseid vaateid m88duvale kaunile maastikule.
Colombo ei ole ka teisel korral huvitavam, seega ei l2inud me t2na 6htul linna pikalt avastama. Homme l2hme me j2rjekordse rongi peale (mis ei peaks loodetavasti kauem kui 4-5 tundi v6tma) mis viib meid saare kesk/l6unaosasse, kus me veedame kolm p2eva, et sealset loodust avastada ning natuke ringi matkata.
Loodan et Euroopas on k6igil k6ik h2sti :)
(Pildid j2lle p2rast inglisekeelset teksti)
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It came as a bit of surprise to me that Sri Lanka, unlike it's close neighbours India and Bangladesh, is in fact not that thickly populated. The island, about the size of England, is home to just over 20 million people (while a whopping 53 million live in England). It has become quite apparent during our ample traveling around the island, where we mostly only see jungle and empty ricefields. As for the people here, they are exceedingly kind and willing to help. We keep getting bombarded with questions about where we are going and what we are doing, which are then followed by ample advice, although admittedly with the occasional effort to offer their own - or their friends' - transport in exchange for cash. While surely there are those who would look to con us, the honesty of the average Sri Lankan has been quite astounding - for example, just this afternoon we accidentally gave a shopkeeper a 2000 rupee bill instead of a 200 one, which he quickly pointed out to us, saying that we gave him too much! So despite the general chaos and noisiness of the people and surroundings that can be a bit intimidating, so far I really only have good words for the country and its people.
Now, as to where I left off last... After our second night in Dambulla, we took a bus to Polonnaruwa, 65 km east. I did also want to write a bit about the bus experience because it is really something. Sri Lankan buses are all oldschool metal monsters, often made more attractive by having been painted in bright colours, and decorated inside with beads and images of deities. The latter is probably particularly significant, considering their suicidal driving...
Buses are very numerous here, and seem to run from everywhere to anywhere. There are no timetables to speak of, but if you turn up at any given bus station, you will get to where you need to go - eventually. As mentioned, traffic here is excruciatingly slow. You don't need to purchase a ticket beforehand either, since buses here have conductors, whose job it is to squeeze past the masses of people in the narrow aisle and collect cash for tickets (which for us cost next to nothing). Buses stop frequently, and passengers change in a constant flow. In nearly every stop, someone selling something will ride along for one leg of the trip, melodically yelling out their wares - be it fruit, water, samosas or other savoury snacks, even yoghurt. As I mentioned before, bus doors stay open at all times. I now realised the true reason for this - to avoid delaying an already lengthy journey, drivers don't really bother to stop at the smaller bus stops. Instead they slow down, and whoever wishes to get on has to run alongside the bus and then hop on. It's truly an impressive skill, since most of them do it while wearing flipflops!
Taking one of these bus trips, we arrived to Polonnaruwa where we visited the ruins of the ancient palace of the kingdom of Polonnaruwa, from where the island was ruled from the 8th until the 14th century. The area is massive, and most of the buildings had been built during the reign of Parakramabahu I the Great, during the 12th century. We opted to explore the area in tuktuk - our first ride since getting here, despite the tuktuks being ubiquitous - since the driver made us a really good offer as soon as we had got off the bus from Dambulla. Tuktuks are basically small open taxis, not more powerful than scooters, but with a roof and a capacity to transport two people. Although we had originally planned to rent bikes to explore the area, the tuktuk was a good choice since the distances were quite long between places, and well.. it was pretty cool to ride in a tuktuk :D
After a night in Polonnaruwa, we took a train for the first time to ride back to Colombo, which is about 200km away. We got on the train at 8.30 in the morning, and arrived at.. (drumroll) ..5pm! That's a whopping 8,5h, nearly as long as it took us to get here from Rome lol. True, we did have one hour lost since there was a problem with the engine, but the rest is just good ol' slow moving. The trains are also oldschool, but quite comfortable. The windows are all open by default, allowing for the enjoyment of some beautiful scenery.
Colombo has still not impressed us, so we have not gone out exploring much, other than to get some food. Tomorrow we will get on another train (which hopefully will not take more than 4 or 5 hours) to the center-south of the island, to what they call Hill Country. We will stay there for three nights to explore the countryside and do some hillwalking.
Hope everyone is doing well back in Europe :)
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| Tuktuk |
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| Suur Buddha // Big Buddha |
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| Loodus Polonnaruwat tagasi v6tmas // Nature reclaiming Polonnaruwa |
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| Veel suurem Buddha // Even bigger Buddha |
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| Annid veel suuremale Buddhale // Offerings to even bigger Buddha |
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| Ema ja poeg (ainult poja saba paistab :) // Mother and baby (only the baby's tail is visible :) |
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| Hiigelsuur stupa// Massive stupa |
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| Paolo avastamas kohalikku floorat // Paolo discovering the local flora |
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| Polonnaruwas rongi ootamas // Waiting for the train in Polonnaruwa |
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| Pika reisi jooksul toitusime ainult samosadest // Subsisting only on samosas during our long train ride |
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| Rongis6it on l6bus :) // Riding a train is fun :) |
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